


Five Times Robin Tried to Talk to Nancy Wheeler (and the one time she did)

by Argella



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: 5+1 Fic, F/F, Mentions of Homophobic Slurs, Pre-Relationship, Robin is v nervous, i probably fucked up ages and years my bad, minor homphobia, pretty sure in ST the whole ms hs thing is different but oh well, wlw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-18 03:53:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21671374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Argella/pseuds/Argella
Summary: "And she finds that Nancy is, well, kind of cool. Sure, she has her hair in two perfect braids with bows and an outfit that looks straight out of a J. Crew catalog—a marked difference from Robin’s choppy bob and jeans with two little holes in the knees from when she’d fallen off her bike—but she also seems friendly enough. She answers the teacher’s questions but doesn’t seem like a teacher’s pet; she shared her goldfish with another kid in class that didn’t have anything for snack time; and best of all, Nancy seems to like everyone in class without having a best friend in class. Maybe that could be Robin."or, the 5 times Robin tried talking to Nancy Wheeler and failed, and the 1 time she finally did(5+1 fic)
Relationships: Robin Buckley/Nancy Wheeler
Comments: 5
Kudos: 117





	Five Times Robin Tried to Talk to Nancy Wheeler (and the one time she did)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [slnstrly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/slnstrly/gifts).



> imposter syndrome has hit me hard in every aspect of my life this last month BUT i'm back and ready to churn some work out, starting with this little Nancy x Robin oneshot. i've never written for these two before but i think they have such potential and needed to add to the small amount of fic we have for them. 
> 
> this is for jess aka the only other robin x nancy shipper i know, ily

i. 

Moving to Hawkins, Indiana has to be the least exciting event of Robin’s life, even at just nine years old. The town is boring, the school is small, and all of the kids in her class stare at her with that weird, wide-eyed fascination that’s afforded to new kids all over the country on their first day. Robin doesn’t like the attention and she certainly doesn’t like any of the small-town kids that had promptly decided she wasn’t worth knowing after one conversation. Her mother tells her that maybe she’ll make friends in other classes or through after-school activities, but she isn’t too sure she wants to know anybody in Hawkins.

That is, until the second day. Because on the second day, Nancy Wheeler shows up to class. From what Robin heard the two kids seated next to her saying, Nancy’s family vacation to Florida had wrapped up late, and her mom had let her take the first day off. Robin isn’t sure this Nancy Wheeler is as lucky as her fellow fourth graders think—what’s so great about Florida?

Before Robin gives into the prodding she’s sure her mother would have given her to just try making friends one last time, she decides to observe Nancy Wheeler in class. Just to see if she’s worth knowing.

And she finds that Nancy is, well, kind of cool. Sure, she has her hair in two perfect braids with bows and an outfit that looks straight out of a J. Crew catalog—a marked difference from Robin’s choppy bob and jeans with two little holes in the knees from when she’d fallen off her bike—but she also seems friendly enough. She answers the teacher’s questions but doesn’t seem like a teacher’s pet; she shared her goldfish with another kid in class that didn’t have anything for snack time; and best of all, Nancy seems to like everyone in class without having a best friend in class. Maybe that could be Robin.

So, when recess rolls around, Robin begins striding up to Nancy, who’s taken up residence on a swing. Just when she’s stepped onto the faded mulch covering the floor of the playground, a girl’s voice calls out behind her.

“Nancy!”

Nancy brings her swing to a stop, mouth widening into a grin, before she hops off and runs right past Robin.

Later, Robin would find out that the red-headed girl Nancy ran so enthusiastically over to was Barbara Holland. Nancy’s best friend.

Robin quickly decides Nancy probably isn’t looking for a second one.

\--

ii. 

Robin’s mom is late in picking her up from band practice. She’s taken to sitting on the curb, watching as everyone else gets picked up by their parents, shrugging off their offers for a ride home because her mom _is_ coming, she’s probably just caught up at work, okay?

She decides to take out her Algebra II homework and work on it while she waits. Math isn’t Robin’s strong suit. She’d nearly had to retake Algebra I last summer but had just scraped by with a passing grade last minute. Her mom likes to lecture her about how she’s plenty smart so it must be because she doesn’t study enough. But to Robin, she’s just bad at math; just like the sky is blue, just like Rumours is still the best Fleetwood Mac album, and just like Hawkins is still stuck in the ‘50s.

She’s so caught up in trying to make sense of her homework (who decided that _more_ letters needed to be added to math?) that she doesn’t realize someone else has joined her on the curb until a delicate little sneeze startles her. Looking over, she sees Nancy Wheeler sitting a few yards down from her, eyes focused on an open book in her hand. Robin blinks at her a few times, head snapping back to her homework sheet when Nancy must feel eyes on her and seek out Robin’s own.

Robin feels her pulse pick up erratically, her hands clammy as they grip onto the worksheet in between them, crinkling the pages a bit. _Calm down_ , she tells herself. _Nancy Wheeler is harmless, she’s not going to say anything to you._

To say middle school had been rough for Robin would be an understatement. From what her mom liked to say to console her, middle school was hard for everyone—what with puberty and all of those other awkward adolescent moments everyone was starting to go through. So, Robin had sucked it up when classmates had called her a nerd for spending time learning new languages, and geek for joining band, and dy—

But Nancy Wheeler doesn’t say those things. She doesn’t think she’s ever seen Nancy make fun of someone. She just sort of keeps to herself and does her schoolwork and hangs out with Barbara Holland. Or that’s what it looks like to Robin, at least. It’s not like she’s spending large amounts of time around Nancy Wheeler to really know.

Maybe it’s the thought of Nancy Wheeler finishing her test early and pulling out a book in their shared science class, or of Nancy, small, secretive smile on her face after receiving the award for perfect attendance at their sixth grade awards ceremony last year, or even the image of Nancy right now, sitting just down the curb from her, reading her book as she waits for her mom to pick her up (maybe it’s all of these thoughts) that has Robin turning to look at her again, lips parting to speak.

(Maybe to say hi or maybe to ask for help with her homework or maybe to ask her something like if she had heard that new song by Supertramp.)

But all that comes out is an embarrassing choked sound, Robin’s head too caught up in what to say and how to say it. And now Nancy is looking at her, eyes curious and questioning, delicate hands still holding open her book.

Robin clears her throat, determined to say something, anything. “Do you—” she gets out, only to stop at the sound of a car pulling up. Her mom.

In all of Robin’s twelve years of life she doesn’t think she’s ever felt so rooted to the spot. Does she finish her sentence (whatever it was going to be)? Does she forget about it and make a beeline for her mom’s car? She looks between the two, her mom’s red hatchback and Nancy’s furrowed brow.

The decision is made for her when her mom honks the horn, looking out the window at Robin with a questioning look. Robin jumps to her feet, worksheet still clutched tightly in her hand, grabs her bag off the ground, and takes quick strides over to the car before scrambling inside.

Blood is rushing in her ears, rendering them barely able to comprehend sound as her mom leans over and out the window, asking Nancy Wheeler if she needs a ride home.

Nancy must say no just as Robin had because soon they’re pulling out from the school and Nancy is becoming a smaller and smaller speck in the rearview mirror that Robin’s eyes keep traitorously glancing at.

“Friend from school?” her mom asks when they’re stopped at a light.

“No.”

\--

iii.

The facts: Robin is fourteen and just one more semester away from high school and she likes girls. The first two are obvious facts, the third one hopefully less so.

Being gay in Hawkins, Indiana is decidedly not great, but Robin likes to think she’s done a good job at keeping it to herself. Sure, the occasional slur is still thrown after her in the hallways by fourteen-year-old douchebags who probably don’t know the difference between Neil Diamond and Neil Young. But those seem mostly provoked by the fact that she’s in band and has short hair and less so because they too had finally realized that she really wants to kiss girls.

She feels almost vindicated by her success when her mom asks if any boys from school have asked her to the Snow Ball.

Almost, because when she says no her mom insists that she go anyway just to have fun and she is not taking no for an answer.

So that’s how Robin Buckley, Hawkins, Indiana’s very own 14-year-old closeted lesbian, ended up here, in a middle school gym, sipping overly sugared punch as she listens to her fellow band kids talk about the upcoming Christmas concert.

The decorations around the gym are nice enough, in a Carrie-at-prom way, what with the balloons and glittering lights and all of that tinsel.

Much to her chagrin, after sipping discontentedly at her third cup of punch, her friends from band get her to dance. It’s a mess of limbs as they move along to the Electric Slide and other line dances and Robin’s a bit put-out to find that she’s actually having fun, so much so that she even agrees to dance with Keith to a slow song (and if she has to deal with his vastly misplaced crush on her all the way into their first semester of ninth grade, well, at least there’s one more person in Hawkins that believes she’s straight).

It’s nearing the end of the night and Robin’s mom is going to be picking her up soon, so she stops dancing, slips her shoes back on, and plops down at the table she and her friends had claimed for the night. Her breath is coming out in heavy puffs (band is a lot more athletic than one would think, but it’s not like she’s a star athlete, okay?) and her hair feels stringy with sweat but there’s a smile plastered on her face that seems like it will never leave.

She takes in the rest of the room; the teachers lurking in corners, repeatedly checking their watches; her bandmates still out on the floor; the balloons in the corner, already beginning to deflate. She guesses her mom making her go to this wasn’t _so_ bad, but it’ll take a lot of prodding for her to actually admit that.

She looks around at the rest of the tables, watching her classmates as they too prepare to leave, when she spots Nancy Wheeler standing by a chair a few tables away. Robin hadn’t seen her all night—not that she’d been looking for her—but now that she has she can’t look away. She’s in a light blue dress with sequins along the straps that shimmer under the cheesy technicolor lights bouncing around the room. Her hair is curled, two barrettes on either side that match the shade of her dress, with stray strands clinging to her neck.

Robin’s throat feels dry all of a sudden. She looks around the table for her cup of punch, coming up short at all of the half empty ones littering the table. She looks back at Nancy, thirst forgotten as she watches the way her body sways halfheartedly to the music, serene smile on her face.

It hits her suddenly. Nancy Wheeler is cute. Really cute.

The heat must be getting to her or maybe there was something besides sugar in the punch because Robin is standing up suddenly, tripping over her own feet as she makes her way over to Nancy.

And suddenly, harsh light is hitting Robin, causing her to squint, right hand coming up to cover her now burning eyes.

The music is stopping, and people are filing out, back into the brisk night air, laughter on their lips and feet aching and Robin is just standing there, watching Nancy Wheeler’s retreating form.

Robin spends the rest of eight grade spurning Keith’s advances and getting tutored in math after school. She doesn’t have time to think about how cute Nancy Wheeler looked at the Snow Ball or how adorable she looks after returning from winter break, all bundled up in a plaid coat and matching scarf, beanie pulled over her head—so she doesn’t.

\--

iv. 

Fall of 1983 is turning out to be a tense time for Hawkins. First Jonathan Byers’ little brother went missing and now Barbara Holland. Barbara who was in Robin’s world geography class; who lent pencils out to people that asked and who raised her hand to answer questions like, “What led to the fall of the Byzantine Empire?”

Barbara Holland with her red hair and big glasses and quiet demeanor. Nancy Wheeler’s best friend Barbara Holland.

Robin figures Nancy is getting plenty of support from Steve Harrington. Mr. Popular and Miss Priss were “that” couple now. Why would perfect Nancy Wheeler need support from anyone else—and from Robin no less? No, Nancy Wheeler is probably handling things just fine.

But when Robin is excused to use the restroom in her fourth period Spanish class and hears sobs coming from the only occupied stall, she isn’t so sure of that.

A quick glance under the stall door presents a pristine pair of white Keds that she knows belong to Nancy Wheeler (and if asked how she knows that Robin would remain tightlipped).

She debates saying something, but only for a second. Because what would she even say? “Hey, I know you’re trying to cry in the privacy of your bathroom stall over your missing and possibly dead best friend, but want to talk about it? With me, a girl you’ve never spoken a word to before?”

No, that would be dumb.

Instead, Robin makes sure her footsteps are extra heavy as she makes her way to her own stall, lock clanging noisily as she closes the door.

The sobs become muffled sniffles until she’s on her way out of the bathroom.

\--

v. 

The summer of 1985 starts out something like this: Robin gets a job at Scoops Ahoy! because she needs the money and also a way to occupy herself. It then somehow turns into her befriending Steve Harrington and getting wrapped up in decoding a secret message by Russians and then she’s being drugged and then she’s puking and then spilling her guts to Steve Harrington and suddenly her secret is out.

Out and bouncing around the tile floor of the Starcourt Mall bathroom. And it doesn’t matter, not to Steve. Or at least, not in the way she thought it would (the way that’s full of disgusted looks and jagged words and telling more people). There’s a bruised ego, perhaps but he had joked around about Tammy Thompson with her and moved on like nothing had changed. (And if she purposely mentions Nancy Wheeler’s name with frustration rather than the weird reverence she’s felt inside of herself over the girl since the fourth grade then Steve doesn’t need to know that.)

But then all of that doesn’t seem to matter because the Russians are back and after her and Steve and Dustin and Erica and she’s scared shitless—but that’s nothing compared to when the monster shows up.

And somehow, somewhere in there she manages to introduce herself to Nancy Wheeler. The first words she’s ever said to the girl and they end up being a stuttering, nervous introduction. That would be her luck.

(The feeling she gets when she sees Nancy is shaken but alive and safe and _strong_ also scares her shitless.)

\--

+1

The air is stifling hot, even inside the video store. The rattling noise coming from the oscillating fan behind the register is the only sound inside the otherwise empty store.

It’s a typical slow Monday afternoon at the end of summer and Robin’s working alone. Steve has the day off and Keith left about an hour ago to do some “store business” which basically meant screw around at the arcade on company time. Robin doesn’t mind all that much. She’s casually sprawled out on the counter reading and she’s getting paid for it. It’s a win-win.

But then the bell on the door rings.

She drops her book, propels herself off the counter and stands up, quickly fixing her t-shirt before turning around to spot who’s entered the store.

What she’s met with is a very nervous looking Nancy Wheeler.

“Hi,” Nancy says, unusually timid for a girl who Robin had seen fight a monster just a few weeks ago. “Robin, right?”

Robin just blinks at her, left hand trying to pinch her right arm as discreetly as possible.

Ouch. Okay, not a dream.

“Yep, that’s me. And you’re Nancy?” she asks, already feeling incredibly stupid at the façade she’s putting on. Of course she knows who Nancy is. But Nancy doesn’t need to know that.

“Yeah.” Nancy stares at her for a moment, teeth worrying her bottom lip before, “Is Steve around?”

Robin tries not to visibly deflate. “You’re looking for Steve?”

Nancy nods. “He works here, right?”

Robin nods brusquely in response. “Yeah. But he has today off.”

“Oh,” is all she says, hands picking nervously at themselves as she glances around the store, taking in the shelves of movies and cardboard cutouts that Robin and Steve had arranged.

“Did you want me to pass along a message?” she offers.

Nancy startles, as if she’d forgotten anyone else was even in the store with her. She shakes her head, curls bouncing with the motion. “No, no thanks.”

Robin nods, already steeling herself for the image of Nancy Wheeler walking out of the store. Only Nancy doesn’t.

Instead, she fixes Robin with a stare, her eyes squinting in thought. Robin’s pulse is thrumming, her hands slick with sweat and she’s suddenly transported back to the seventh grade, waiting for her mom after band practice, nervous under Nancy’s eyes.

“Are you okay Robin?”

 _Oh God_ , she thinks. This is it. This is the moment it all clicks for Nancy—the stares, the stuttering, Robin’s shifty eyes.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” she manages to get out.

Nancy’s eyes soften. “I mean, I wasn’t, the first time. Especially because of Barb. It helps, having someone to talk to. But I’m sure you and Steve…talk a lot,” her voice raises at the end, almost in question.

And then it clicks for _Robin_. Nancy was asking how she was doing after that night.

“Oh. That. Yeah, I’m uh,” she pauses. “Steve’s been a big help. It’s mainly at night that I…,” she trails off, uncertain of whether she wants to admit to the nightmares. Waking up in a cold sweat, phantom pain lingering in her neck from remembering the needle as it had been pushed into her skin.

“That’s how it’s always been for me too. It’s great talking to Jonathan but since he moved it’s been pretty difficult. That’s why I came to talk to Steve. Because he’s been through it all too. Not for—not for other reasons,” she tacks on at the end, her words hurried.

“I didn’t think it was for other reasons,” Robin shrugs.

Nancy sends her a small smile in reply.

They both just stand there for what’s likely less than a minute but feels like ages to Robin, their eyes locked on each other.

Just as Nancy looks prepared to say something, likely a goodbye, Robin blurts out, “Movies help.”

“Yeah?”

“I mean, for me at least. Steve and I must have tried watching a million different genres until we found a few things that helped distract us.”

Nancy hums. “Got any recommendations?”

“Yeah, I,” Robin falters, unable to believe what’s happening. “I do, um, here I’ll show you a few of my favorites.”

Nancy follows Robin over to the shelves, taking in the different films Robin points out, occasionally picking up a few to skim the back cover. Robin feels this mixture of excitement and nerves that she never wants to end, fueling her as they discuss each one.

And when Nancy is saying goodbye, a few movies now in her arms, and she asks to exchange numbers, “If you ever just want to talk,” Robin nearly combusts.

**Author's Note:**

> and then they started having movie nights and nancy broke up with jonathan and they became girlfriends, the end :)  
> i also need you all to know that, while i probably messed up ages and years badly, the Supertramp song Robin is thinking about is The Logical Song
> 
> crying about ronance, reddie, and gendrya on tumblr @ ladystvrk


End file.
